Monday, June 29, 2015

Was it a firecracker? Or a gun?

By Jessica Fletcher

Just in time for the upcoming July 4th, here's an excerpt from "Murder, She Wrote" Murder on Parade.

Following my hometown's festivities and a picnic shared with friends, I decided a little exercise was
in order. Joining me were former Cabot Cove Sheriff Amos Tupper, back for a
visit, and Rick Allcott, an FBI officer, now retired, whom I had met several
years ago at a crime conference.

We
left the parking lot and strolled back to where we’d witnessed the concert and
fireworks. I spotted Mort
Metzger issuing orders to some of his uniformed officers, and we went to him.

“Quite a show, huh?” Mort said after
dismissing his men.

“Spectacular,” Amos agreed.

“What are you folks still doing
here?” our sheriff asked.

“Walking off fried chicken,” I
said.

“I never had a chance to have
dinner,” Mort said, eyes scanning the diminishing activity. “Fried chicken
sounds pretty good just about now.”

Rick Allcott, Amos Tupper and I
walked down to the water’s edge and strolled along, away from the
Lennon-Diversified building. Light from a waning crescent moon danced off
ripples in the water. Because we were outside town and its downtown lights, the
sky was especially clear, millions of stars shining against an almost black
scrim.

“Miss being sheriff here?” Rick
asked Amos.

“Once in a while,” said our former
top law enforcement official, “but I sure do miss the people in Cabot Cove. Finest bunch of
people I’ve ever known."

“How about you, Allcott? You miss
being an FBI agent?” Amos said. “You seem a little young for retirement.”

“I put in my years,” Rick said.
“Sometimes I miss the action, but on peaceful nights like tonight, I remember
what I enjoy most about being retired, Peace! There wasn’t a lot of it when I
was with the Bureau. Nothing like in Cabot Cove. I can understand why you
choose to live here, Jessica.”

“It’s my little slice of heaven.”

I estimate that we’d gone almost
half a mile before Amos suggested we turn back. Now, we were walking toward the
Lennon-Diversified building, whose marble façade caught the moonlight, giving
it an ethereal aura, like some religious temple in another part of the world,
or an imposing marble government building in Washington, D.C.,
home of many such edifices.

As we started up the gentle hill
toward the lot where Amos and Rick had parked, we heard the sound of sirens.

“Some fool must’a had too much to
drink and wrapped himself around a pole,” Amos offered.

“Or around someone else’s car,” Rick
said.

“Oh, dear,” I said. “I hope not.”

The sound came closer, two sirens
now. We were within a hundred feet of Rick’s car when flashing lights came into
view. A few seconds later, their source became evident as two marked cars raced
down into the lot from the road. One was Mort Metzger’s sheriff’s vehicle. They
came to a halt a dozen feet away, and Mort and three deputies exited.

“What’s going on?” I said.

“Got a report of a body down behind
Lennon’s building,” Mort said.

“We were just down near there,” I
said.

“Did you see anyone?”

“No,” we chorused.

Mort led his men down the hill. We
didn’t make a conscious decision to follow them. Amos, Rick and I simply fell
in line, our reflexes on auto-pilot. We saw the men disappear around the rear
of the office building where exterior lights had come to life, bathing the
sweeping veranda, promenade and dock in harsh, white light. Two people stood
together on the dock as Mort and his officers narrowed the distance between
them. We stopped a respectful distance away, but close enough to hear what was
said. I recognized one of the men awaiting the sheriff’s arrival by his
uniform, a Lennon-Diversified security guard.

“Where?” Mort asked in a loud voice.

“Down there,” the guard replied.

Flashlights
were trained on the object of their focus, and we strained to see what it was.

“Who is it?” I asked.

“Is he dead, Sheriff?” Amos asked.

“Afraid so,” Mort responded.

Murder on Parade is number 29 in the "Murder, She Wrote" series. All the books in the series are original mysteries and not based on any of the TV episodes.

We gather with friends every year to have potluck dinner and watch the July 4th fireworks together. How do you spend your Independence Day?

I read this mystery last year just before the 4th of July and LOVED IT. I always appreciate the holiday theme mysteries and since I really enjoy Summer reading it was perfect. You always craft a wonderful mystery and KILLER IN THE KITCHEN is currently in my pile to be read. I can't wait.

I spend the 4th of July at home comforting my cat so he doesn't get spooked. I don't participate in the festivities myself, but wouldn't mind reading about a 4th of July murder mystery. I LOVE the Murder She Wrote mysteries!!

Animals are very sensitive to the fireworks, Laurie, so that's a lovely thing to do. We actually adopted a dog that had run away from fireworks. The owner was never found, but we got a great dog. July 4th was a tough day for her, however.

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We are the characters--major and minor--who inhabit the pages of some of your favorite cozy mysteries.We're coming out from between the covers and welcoming you into our lives.So grab a nice cuppa, settle in, and learn what happens when our authors aren't looking.